PX boat marina expects a fee?

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Tony4597

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This is a hypothetical question at this time but we have been considering a move up to a larger boat. Our marina T&C’s state that boats can only be sold by them and if owners sell privately they will incur charges as if the marina acted as broker. In the event that an undervaluation is declared they reserve the right to charge a fee based on what they see as the true value of the vessel.

It has been suggested that these charges would apply if a new boat sourced elsewhere with another broker and a part exchange took place! Considering that our boat not actively marketed for sale and a suitable boat not available at current brokerage leading to seeking pix with another broker outside the area surely it is not unreasonable to expect no charges from the home marina? Additionally the existing berth would need to be given up possibly early with zero refund.

What is considered normal/reasonable in this scenario?
 
There was extensive coverage on this site years ago of a marina trying a similar thing and losing in court on grounds of unfair contract terms. Perhaps someone can remember the details.
 
What were you expecting in the event of a sale / boat exchange while under contract ?

The p ex bit is foil guys writing a value of say a quid and other considerations into a sale .Then bypassing the sale brokerage by saying it’s wasn’t a direct sale it was p exed . Thus bypassing there brokerage scheme + resultant income stream .

That income stream from clients boats brokerage fees along with other stuff like car parking fees , cafe shop , chandlery fees ( either rent to a 3 p or direct profit ) , insistence on using there own engineers where applicable is all part of there business modal .
Of which your annual berthing fee is just a fraction .A significant fraction basically subsidised by the other streams to keep them competitive with nearby rivals , ie the place full ish ? Year round .

Perhaps lay a pathway which involves getting out first ( or before they get wind of a boat change ) of the contract .
Obviously we have no sight of said contract replying to this .

Similarly you get binding out clauses when selling a business.ie can’t set up next door for x time period and Y radius of distance .

Same with agri land sales near villages the seller gets a % of any uplift for a period of time ( decades ) if the new buyer and any future buyers subsequently gets planning and resells it to Mr Barrat , Persimmon, Wimpy et al for housing .

If you don’t like the small print don’t enter into contract .Don’t do it .

Coming back to this particular “ small print “ ……is there a even a time clause .I mean should you move away from the marina and subsequently sell it ? I would have thought if so that bit might be the unenforceable bit or the bit referred to above in post #5 ??
 
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This was once a common practice left over from the days of "all service" boatyards with boats on moorings. However today most marinas have removed the clauses because the BMF have advised them that they are unfair terms and difficult to enforce. There have been a number of cases where marinas have lost in court, but they are usually county court (through small claims) so do not set a precedent. The central argument is that their business is renting space for boats and not providing a service for the buying and selling of boats. Some get round this by a condition that all sales/purchases go through the marina broker, but now most of them don't own the brokerage so this is rare.
 
There is a clause in the standard contract used by marina people which says that they can charge 1% of any sale on boats sold in the marina. There was a case where this was challenged & their trade organisation removed it from the terms. However, some marinas still use the old form, having not bothered to get new ones printed one assumes.
I challenged our marina on it & the reply was " Oh! never realised it was there, We have never applied it so do not worry" So I cross it out whenever I sign the renewal. If they query that I will quote the comment & say that if they never apply it, then it need not be there in the first instant. There is nothing to stop one striking out disagreeable terms. In some cases they may not even realise it has been struck out if an inexperienced office staff has just filed it away.
 
Thanks to you all for your views on this, most helpful. My expectations was that a contract must be fair and reasonable to all parties and not disadvantage the customer, regardless of T&C’s that may be included that may not be enforceable. Accepting of course that this may be a naive newbie view.

I wii post more once I have discussed the situation with marina.
 
Tranona said:
This was once a common practice left over from the days of "all service" boatyards with boats on moorings
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Maybe things are going back that way? Boat folk run bars and restaurants ,boat point brokerage from various marinas and offer most repair and maintenance services.
I've no idea about any sales percentage they may or may not want.
 
Tranona has it at post #10.

Either boatyards haven't bothered to update their terms and conditions in line with (IIRC) BMIF advice for a decade or two, or they're just trying it on. This has been found an unfair and unenforceable term in court cases, including one brought by Fr Jack of this parish (though his user name was different back then) against a well known East Coast marina. There is a thread (or perhaps several) about this, going back maybe ten years now.

I can't remember the exact details, but I believe the marina (where he had been a customer for some time) were adamant that he would have to pay their charge, and didn't accept that the term was unenforceable (the saga went on for a long time), but when it came to court didn't put up much or anything of a fight.

If I remember correctly he suspected that they were so sore about losing that they may well have refused to renew his berthing contract when it expired, but in his case he was moving away from the area so it didn't matter to him.

I believe that particular marina no longer has such a term in its contract, but at least one of the others on the same river does. (Both are substantial sized 'professional' type organisations, not shoe-string boatyards who would not have regular access to legal advice or familiarity with the trade association advice.)
 
Clancy Moped said:
Your prepared to accept this? I used to have annual contract with NCP on Brewer street in Soho for my works car, should they get a slice, if it was sold.......
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I did not think that we were talking about cars. Plus car parks are closer together. So your analogy is a bit pointless. Try something a bit more relevant :rolleyes:
 
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